In his opening address to the CEPR/ESI conference on 'The Euro Area as an Economic Entity' given on 12 September Jurgen Stark of the Bundesbank said he considered such meetings especially valuable because academics should increasingly confront themselves with practical questions and day-to-day policy making. In turn, central bankers are too closely watched to allow themselves to fall behind the curve of academic thinking.

To read past central bank speeches use our Speech Finder. Click the link on